A manufacturer of electrical or optical cable may rely on consumer association with the manufacturer's name to secure future sales. The consumer may similarly rely on association with a particular manufacturer's cable to meet a desired level of performance. If a particular manufacturer's cable is counterfeited and sold, it not only results in lost sales, but such may tarnish the manufacturer's name and future sales.
Several techniques have been used to assist consumers in verifying a particular manufacturer as the source of a cable, such as including the manufacturer's name on the cable reel or on the outside of the outer cable jacket, for example. Unfortunately, one drawback of such verification techniques is their visible placement may result in easy counterfeiting.
In addition to techniques for verifying a cable manufacturer, several techniques have been disclosed for visually distinguishing cables from one another and identifying particular cable component ends for their respective connection at an appropriate termination point. For example, U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2002/0164133 to Rattazzi et al. discloses a method for color coding optical fibers, and buffer tubes containing a plurality of optical fibers. The color coding approach assigns a particular color code to the outer coating and inner coating of a buffer tube outer jacket; the outside coating, middle cross section, and inside coating of the buffer tube; and the coatings of the fibers through the buffer tube. By assigning multiple color codes to each cable component, a greater number of cables can be distinguished from one another.
Another example of a color coding approach for visually distinguishing cables is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,727,433 to Tsai including a cable having one or more conductors around which one or more color windings are uniformly wound and secured to the conductors by heating. A transparent plastic covering formed on the winding by extrusion molding permits viewing of the color windings from outside the cable.
Further, another similar example of a color coding approach for identification of cables is disclosed in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0252676 to McMillan including a cable containing a core within a jacket, and with the core including twisted pairs of insulated conductors. The insulated coverings of the twisted pairs of conductors include a coloring scheme with the respective conductors in the twisted pair having a substantially solid dark and lighter shade of the same color on their respective insulations.
Although these color coding systems provide a system for distinguishing cables and/or components thereof, they do not attempt to ensure the authenticity of a cable or discourage the unauthorized counterfeiting of cables. Accordingly, there is a need to develop a cable structure and methods to facilitate the authentication of a cable.